


Consequences

by Cait_Sidhe



Series: The Accidental Vampire [6]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Angry Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Angst, Biting, Blood, Blood Drinking, Boys Kissing, Darkness, Dissociation, Dream Eater Link (Kingdom Hearts), Dream Eater Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Dreams, Established Relationship, Game: Kingdom Hearts III, Human/Vampire Relationship, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Keyblade Wielder Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Kissing, M/M, Memory Loss, Minor Character Death, Mysterious Tower (Kingdom Hearts), Non-Consensual Blood Drinking, Not Canon Compliant - Kingdom Hearts III, POV Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), POV Riku (Kingdom Hearts), POV Sora (Kingdom Hearts), POV Third Person Limited, Panic Attacks, Protective Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Rage form, Riku Loves Sora (Kingdom Hearts), San Fransokyo (Big Hero 6), Sora Loves Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Vampires, Villain Character Death, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:02:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26005375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cait_Sidhe/pseuds/Cait_Sidhe
Summary: Sora and Kairi don't remember much about their mission to San Fransokyo thanks to partying a bit too hard. While confined to the Mysterious Tower for a week as punishment, they start to recall what happened... specifically, the reason why Ienzo received an anonymous shipment from the city containing a replica body with a nasty bite wound.Kairi then starts connecting the dots... People warned Sora that he should tell Kairi about his newfound status as a vampire before she finds out on her own. Maybe he should have listened.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: The Accidental Vampire [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1777057
Comments: 7
Kudos: 38





	Consequences

**Author's Note:**

> With this, we finally start moving into KH3 territory! Not sure if I'll have them eventually visit all the same worlds, but if I do, they won't be in the same order (case in point: they're starting in San Fransokyo).
> 
> Titling this one was particularly difficult. If anyone has a better suggestion, I'm open for it.

“Riku!” Sora yelled, running up to and practically tackling the silverette who had been waiting outside the Mysterious Tower. The brunette threw his arms around Riku’s shoulders and jumped up, legs wrapped around his waist while Riku encircled his arms around Sora, looking surprised. Then Riku’s face grew soft as Sora pressed his lips to Riku’s and then whispered something in Riku’s ear that caused the boy to blush vigorously.

Kairi watched in amazement as she, Donald, and Goofy left the GummiShip, all three pausing to look at the boys once they’d reached the ground. Kairi had known that the two were in a relationship (after a very awkward conversation with them and Lea, which included information which she really should have learned in school; the Islands were a bit behind on that front), but the other two hadn’t—nor even suspected it, from the completely shocked expressions on their faces.

Riku put Sora down, only for the brunette to grab his hand and practically drag him into the Tower. Kairi blushed, realizing Sora probably planned to do some more intimate things with Riku, who didn’t seem to be protesting at all—in fact, he looked somewhat eager. (Whatever Sora had whispered must have been fairly suggestive… Kairi mentally shook the vaguely forming image out of her mind. They were her best friends, for fuck’s sake!)

“Wow, Sora must have really missed Riku,” Goofy commented. Kairi suspected he hadn’t quite realized the full situation, confirmed by his next statement, “They’re such good friends, aren’t they?”

“It’s more than that, you doof!” Donald squawked, smacking Goofy on the arm with his staff (only because he couldn’t reach the head). Donald then turned to Kairi (thankfully, he never hit her with the staff, only Sora and Goofy). “Did you know about this?!”

Kairi blushed. “Um…”

∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩

“You do realize that neither Donald nor Goofy knew about us, right?” Riku asked Sora as he was dragged up the stairs.

“Don’t care,” Sora said firmly. “Too hungry.”

Riku’s stomach did a little flip in anticipation. “Well, I’m all yours,” he said, trying for svelte but his voice cracked slightly. Sora was being extra pushy, which Riku found unbelievably hot; usually Sora was fairly shy about this (with the exception of the one time at Merlin’s place, when the apparently-sentient house had put some sort of strange aphrodisiacal incense in their room). He must be especially hungry today (though they had been apart for nearly six days, away on separate missions, so it was understandable).

Sora practically tore apart the wooden door to their shared room as he flung it open, pulling Riku in and slamming it again; Riku barely had time to think before Sora slammed him into the door and pressed up against him, pinning Riku’s arms above his head. A sharp yet oddly pleasant pain blossomed in the crook of Riku’s neck.

“Ah… Sora…” Riku moaned, breathing heavily and already half-hard. 

Sora didn’t answer, as his mouth was busy sucking on the bloody wound he’d created on Riku’s neck, though he shifted the position of his hands, pulling Riku’s as high as he could reach (honestly, not much higher than Riku’s head) and holding them with one hand while the other hand snaked down Riku’s side and then clutched the bulge in Riku’s pants. Riku’s breathing sped up as the pleasant tingling sensation caused by Sora’s venom blossomed from the bite, slowly spreading through his body, and his cock fully hardened as Sora pressed on it more firmly.

They held the position for a short while, then Riku felt his breathing slow and his limbs begin to weaken. It was nice… wait. Riku opened his eyes in panic. “Sora!” he gasped. “T-too much!” Riku kicked at Sora’s shin, though without much force behind it. “Sora, stop…” Riku’s cock slackened, and his voice faded as his vision began to get fuzzy, his thoughts and breathing becoming dangerously slow.

Sora unlatched his fangs from Riku’s neck, eyes wide in both lingering arousal and sudden fear. “Shit! Riku! Hey! No, no, no, don’t pass out! Riku!”

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Sora’s thoughts raced. No, no, no, this couldn’t be happening! He’d taken too much! Riku was on the brink of passing out! In his hunger, Sora had forgotten; he was so stupid, he should have been more careful. “Riku, stay with me,” he said, leading the wobbling Riku over to the bed to lay down. “Shit, sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“Shh, it’s okay, Sora,” Riku slurred quietly, somehow calm amongst all this (or maybe that was just the blood loss). “I’ll be fine, okay? I didn’t pass out; it’s nothing to worry about.”

“Are you kidding me? I nearly killed you!” Sora shouted. “Curaga,” he said, using a spell to heal Riku slightly. The neck wound lessened, and Riku seemed to gain a little strength back. “Hold on, I have a hi-potion somewhere too…” Riku chuckled as he sat up slightly while Sora helped him drink. Some color returned to his face, which had become deathly pale, and the bite mark healed a bit more, though still not fully. Crap, that had been a really bad one; usually, two spells/potions took care of the larger vampire bite wounds.

Sora wished potions and cure magic worked on him like that, too. Alas, vampires could not restore even a little blood via such, meaning Sora needed to actually drink to replenish any he lost (on humans, healing things technically didn’t restore blood loss either, but they did temporarily do something that helped until the human could restore it themselves, providing too much hadn’t been lost, which thankfully hadn’t been the case here. Sora wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if he killed Riku!). That’s how he’d gotten into this situation: he’d lost quite a bit in some of their battles, on top of being gone for nearly a week (which hadn’t been planned. It was supposed to be four days at most—two for travel, two for clearing away heartless—which was Sora’s limit before starting to feel the hunger. They hadn’t tried much longer than that before, even though the books said a week would be fine with the amount he’d drank prior. Clearly a week was not fine).

“We have got to find a way to fix this vampire thing,” Sora moaned, flopping down on the bed next to Riku. Five weeks prior, Sora had messed up a world-disguise spell in Halloween Town, which had somehow permanently turned him partially into a vampire (some enhanced senses, inability to eat human food, intermittent super-speed, fangs, and of course blood-drinking; all easily hideable except the fangs, which had been explained away as an aesthetic thing when people asked. Also, immortality, which they were keeping a secret from everyone for now, but someday people would notice as he would be stuck as a teen forever. Ugh! As to who knew about the vampirism itself, it was only a handful of people, all told on a need-to-know basis or who discovered it by accident. Oh, or who magically knew, like freaking Hades. Not even Kairi knew).

Riku sighed. “Sora, you know that’s impossible.”

Sora sighed. “I know.” After Yen Sid’s, Merlin’s, Radiant Garden’s, and Disney Castle’s libraries had been exhausted, yielding no information on how to fix the unprecedented situation of permanently becoming a supernatural creature through magical means (the few cases they’d discovered of permanent anatomical body alterations beyond aesthetic ones were all things the people didn’t want to change back, so no one had bothered to make a way to reverse them), Sora and Riku had gone to see Ienzo about possible scientific ways to reverse things. Ienzo had never heard of such either, but when he did an examination of Sora he concluded that he had no scientific way to reverse it either. In fact, Ienzo determined that unfortunately Sora’s heart itself now identified itself as a vampire (since apparently Sora had accepted being such somewhere along the lines, although he had not consciously done so), so not even switching to a replica body would help. Then in Olympus, they’d ended up going to the Fountain of Knowledge, which confirmed it was truly impossible to reverse (he’d only gone there to learn if he truly were immortal, but the fountain confirmed that for him too).

Speaking of replicas, after revealing that Sora had three other hearts in him (to Sora’s complete confusion; he’d known of Roxas, but two more?), Ienzo said he’d look into making replicas for them! Sora couldn’t wait for that. It’d take a while, especially because Even—the primary scientist who worked on replicas—was missing, and there was no guarantee it would work, but the hope was enough.

Riku then grinned playfully. “Plus, I drank that ambrosia already; if you return to being mortal and force me to become a 17-year-old dating a 60-year-old someday, I’ll… I’ll do something.”

Sora giggled. “I’d be fine with anything you do to me, Riku,” he said flirtatiously.

Riku laughed. “So you’ve said… hey, look, I’ll be fine, promise. I heal fast now, remember?” It was an effect of the ambrosia: not only was Riku now immortal, but they’d discovered that he tended to heal faster than mortal humans did, although they hadn’t yet determined if that applied to blood-loss too. Or, ichor? They weren’t sure. It was still mostly red like human blood, but there were also hints of gold in it now, like the pure-gold blood of the gods known as ichor, and there was a slight shine to it, even glowing in the right light if one looked closely enough. It also tasted sweeter. But whatever it was, it thankfully still satisfied Sora’s vampire thirst, which was what mattered most.

A knock sounded on the door.

“Fuck!” Sora swore, leaping off the bed, quickly using another cure spell on Riku, cringing as the neck wound still didn’t go away—it was closed over, but still had a faint mark. Hopefully that wouldn’t scar… oh, and the blood hadn’t been cleaned up. Sora pointed this out to Riku as he wiped his own mouth with his sleeve—thank the gods that the faeries liked to use a lot of black in their clothing.

Riku dashed into their en-suite bathroom as Sora took a deep breath and opened his door slightly, revealing a very angry Donald.

“What do you want,” Sora mumbled moodily. He did not want to deal with the duck right now.

The duck glared at Sora. “You can fool around with Riku later.”—Sora blushed at the implication—“Right now, we need to report to Yen Sid about the mission!”

“Uh. Right, give me a minute.” Sora closed the door in Donald’s face and locked it. Oh, he was going to be in so much trouble for that!

“Sora! You get out here right now!” Donald demanded, banging on the door.

“What’s going on?” Riku asked, leaning on the doorframe of the bathroom, a hand on his head.

“You okay?” Sora asked in worry.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Riku said, removing his hand and walking to Sora, wobbling slightly. “Just a little dizzy, that’s all.”

Sora cringed. That was his fault… suddenly, Sora remembered something. “Hey! Didn’t a couple of those books mention some sort of blood-replenishing potions that humans can use, when discussing being drained too much?”

Riku nodded. “I think so. But aren’t those toxic for vampires? You’d have to wait a few days before drinking again.”

Sora rolled his eyes. “Riku, I’d have to wait a few days before drinking after this anyway, unless I want to kill you, which I definitely do not. Let’s ask Yen Sid about making one.”

Riku sighed. “Okay, yeah.” He put a hand to his head and wobbled slightly. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.”

More banging on the door. “Hurry up!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming!” Sora said loudly. “You lay down,” Sora told Riku. “I’ll be back in a bit, hopefully with the potion.” He pecked Riku on the lips, then charged out the door, glaring at the angry duck before stomping up the steps, though he was more angry at himself for hurting Riku than at the duck for interrupting.

∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩

Kairi watched Sora curiously as they delivered the mission report. He seemed incredibly agitated about something. She knew Donald had interrupted… whatever he and Riku had been doing. She was sure that was upsetting, yeah, but that couldn’t be all—he had been quite grumpy and anxious near the end of their mission, and on their way home during the GummiShip ride, even unable to sleep (he usually napped on the ship if someone else drove—Sora could sleep anywhere. It was actually rather cute… Kairi mentally shook the thought away. Sora was gay. He was with Riku. She had no chance. Her mind knew that—if only her heart would listen!). She’d assumed Sora’s agitation was just due to missing Riku, yet Sora only seemed more agitated now.

“That still does not explain why you returned two days late, Sora,” Yen Sid pointed out. “Kairi, why don’t you elaborate?” Kairi cringed; she hadn’t been paying attention to what Sora had been saying. Yen Sid sighed, probably realizing.

“Why can’t Donald and Goofy explain?” Kairi suggested.

Donald frowned and crossed his arms. “Because both of you need experience with mission reports!”

“Plus, you two were the ones missing for a while, and then returned acting all nervous and claiming we needed to leave,” Goofy pointed out. “We don’t know where you went, either.”

Kairi looked at Sora, unsure what to say.

“I told you, we don’t know what happened,” Sora said quickly. “It’s all a blank.”

“But surely you must know what led up to it,” Yen Sid said, with a knowing stare. He was definitely aware that they did have a general idea of what happened.

Kairi cringed, unsure what to say. They had split up to look for heartless in a city—Donald and Goofy on one side, Kairi and Sora on the other—and the teens had ended up at some night club that did not care about age limits. So naturally, they took advantage of that. And then some people gave them some other stuff. And then... 

“Sora, Kairi,” Yen Sid said. “It is not becoming for Heroes of Light to lie. Tell the truth.”

Sora’s eye twitched, still appearing to be highly agitated. “We were in jail.” He admitted with a glare. “Happy? Your Heroes of Light got arrested. For public intoxication, I think. And creating a disturbance or something. Maybe vandalism too. It’s kinda fuzzy.”

Kairi sighed. “And resisting arrest,” she admitted, resigned to having to reveal it all. “We probably can’t go back to that world, considering we escaped and assaulted more officers in the process… at least, I think we did?” She looked to Sora, who nodded in confirmation.

“Wak!” Donald squawked in shock. 

“What’s public intoxication?” Goofy asked.

Donald gave Goofy a withering look. “Seriously?”

“We were with a whole group of people,” Kairi explained further. “Somewhere between five and twenty of them? Not sure exactly what we did, but I think it involved giant ducks on hang-gliders.”

“No, it was tigers on floating buildings,” Sora said.

“That makes no sense!” Kairi argued.

“Neither does what you said!”

Donald looked at the two suspiciously. “Just what exactly did you take?”

Sora shrugged. “I dunno. We were drinking at some club, and then some people gave us some things, and then everything got all weird.”

“Then we woke up in the jail cell the next afternoon, too hungover to use our keyblades until the next morning, when we escaped and found you,” Kairi admitted.

Yen Sid frowned. “That was extremely irresponsible of you both. I hope you two have learned your lesson from that.”

“I regret nothing,” Sora said with a grin and a laugh. Kairi giggled too, but everyone else stared at him. Sora rolled his eyes. “What? I was joking. It won’t happen again, probably.”

Yen Sid stared at Sora in response, an unrecognizable expression upon his face. He seemed to be contemplating something.

Sora fidgeted slightly. “Fine. It definitely won’t happen again.”

Yen Sid turned to look at Kairi. 

“I promise too!” she said. “Definitely won’t happen again!” On a mission, at least—it actually had been kinda fun. Like those plants Merlin had (her and Lea’s discovery and usage of them was why they were doing in-field training now rather than using Merlin’s forest—Merlin hadn’t minded, but Yen Sid did). She should take Sora and Riku there.

After further scolding from Yen Sid, Goofy, and Donald, and a week-long mission suspension where Kairi and Sora had to stay at the Tower to study and train (basically, they’d been grounded; hadn’t a day and night in jail been enough?), the group was dismissed… except…

“Master Yen Sid, I have something I need to ask you,” Sora said, then looked at the others. “Alone.”

Kairi looked at Sora in surprise, but she left the room nonetheless, wondering what exactly Sora needed to talk to Yen Sid about alone.

∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩

“Sora, are you still intoxicated?” Yen Sid asked sternly immediately after the others had left.

Sora blushed. “N-no! Of course not! Er. Not exactly. Not like in the city. Um. Blood-drinking kinda does that sometimes though? Like, when I have a lot at once.” Particularly since Riku drank the ambrosia, but Sora didn’t want to reveal the immortality thing to Yen Sid—or anyone—yet.

Yen Sid raised an eyebrow. “I see. So, what did you wish to discuss?”

“Oh, it’s, er, actually about the same topic... Riku’s okay, don’t worry! But I, er… well, he might need to stay at the Tower for a few days, too…”

Yen Sid frowned. “Riku has duties to attend to. Surely you can last a few days without his blood; you just went six.”

“Uh, yeah, that’s the issue…” Sora wasn’t quite sure how to say this. “Well, it seems my limit is five until I start getting super hungry, unless the, er, substances affected that… anyway, so, when we got back here, just before this, I, well… fed…” It was still so awkward to say aloud! “And… I think I took a little too much—he’s still conscious, don’t worry! But, uh, I don’t think he’s up for missions…”

Yen Sid was frowning significantly now. “Sora, that was very irresponsible of you,” he said sternly.

Sora winced. “I know, I know. But! We read in a book there’s some sort of blood-replenishing potion that can help? I wouldn’t be able to have his blood for a few days since it’s toxic for vampires, but I wouldn’t be able to have it anyway since he’s so low and even if I could that’s better than him having to sleep for most of the week. We used cure and regular potions but they didn’t do much… so I thought maybe we could try making that potion?”

Yen Sid frowned. “That is up to you and Riku. However, I do not have the supplies for such here; potions are more Merlin’s specialty. Considering you and Kairi are required to stay here, Riku would have to go with someone else. Mickey knows of your affliction, correct? Perhaps he can escort Riku.”

Sora nodded. “Understood. I’ll ask Riku what he thinks, and we’ll call Mickey.” He would prefer to go with Riku himself, but he figured it’d be best not to argue right now.

∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩

Kairi knocked on the door to Sora and Riku’s room; after receiving a mumbled “come in”, she entered and found Riku lying on his bed, looking very sleepy.

“What’s with you?” Kairi asked, frowning. “You were all energetic earlier.”

Riku sat up, then shook his head, seemingly trying to knock away the daze. “I’m fine,” he said, although his eyes were still slightly dazed.

Kairi noticed something on Riku’s neck, and grinned slyly. “Sora gave you a hickey already?”

Riku put his hand over the mark on his neck and blushed. “Something like that,” he mumbled, as the green of a cure spell shone under his hand. He then turned to Kairi and asked louder, “So, how’d the report go?”

Kairi cringed. “Er. Sora and I are grounded for a week.”

Riku gave Kairi a strange look. “What?”

“We, er, kinda, well…” Kairi sheepishly explained, Riku’s expression growing more and more disbelieving as she went on.

“That’s… wow,” Riku said, once Kairi had finished. “I… well, I wouldn’t put it past Sora, but you’re basically the last person I’d imagine doing all that!”

Kairi blushed. “Yeah, me too. I guess Sora’s rubbing off on me a bit,” she laughed, even though that wasn’t quite the truth (she secretly had been the one to convince Lea to try Merlin’s plants with her and Sora to go to the club. But things were easier when people assumed her innocent).

Riku laughed at that, too. “Maybe. But that does explain the call I got from you two.” He grinned.

Kairi blinked in confusion. “Call?” They’d called Riku?

“And the photos,” Riku smirked.

“Photos…?” Oh, crap. What did Kairi and Sora send Riku during their drunk/high adventure?!

Riku laughed. “I’ll show you once Sora gets here.”

Speak of the Sora, and he shall appear.

“Riku!” Sora called as he slammed open the door. “Yen Sid said—” Sora froze and changed his track of conversation. “Oh, hi, Kairi!” Kairi wondered what Sora had been about to say.

Riku crossed his arms. “So, what’s this I hear about drunk and high escapades?”

Sora’s face turned bright red. “Um. Haha. Yeah, about that… um…”

Riku laughed. “It’s fine. I’m sure Yen Sid already scolded you enough. I was about to show Kairi the photos you two sent me after that bizarre phone call.”

Sora's face paled. “We called you?!”

“Yup. You were saying something about wolves riding giant bats. Thought you meant some new kind of heartless. Then you sent me a picture of Sora wearing a wolf costume while standing on a large cat-themed metal wind sock...”

As Riku showed some more pictures the two had sent to him (in increasingly ridiculous places with Sora in half a dozen increasingly bizarre outfits, including what looked like a lolita dress), his GummiPhone began to ring.

“Ienzo?” Kairi asked, looking at the caller ID. “What’s he want?”

Riku shrugged. “Dunno,” he said, then pressed the green ‘call answer’ button. “Hello?”

“Hello, Riku. Oh, good, there’s three of you there,” Ienzo said. “I already called some others, but so far no one seems to know what happened.”

Kairi had a sinking feeling that whatever happened was related to the blanks in their memories. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“Well,” the blue-haired scientist said, “Last night, a package was delivered to the lab via Moogle Mail, containing a damaged replica body.”

“A replica body?” Sora asked.

“Indeed. From what I can tell of the damage, I surmise it got into a fight, sustaining enough damage to evict the heart inside. We know Xehanort is using replica bodies, so it stands to reason that someone got into a fight with one, defeated it, and then sent the empty one here to aid in our related research.”

Riku nodded. “Makes sense. Do you know where it was sent from?”

“Yes,” Ienzo answered. “A place called ‘San Fransokyo’.”

Riku blinked a couple times, then looked pointedly at Sora and then at Kairi, who were seated on either side of him. “You two want to explain?”

Sora shrugged. “I dunno. I don’t remember anything from half that mission, remember?”

“Same,” Kairi said. “Although it makes logical sense that it’d be us. Donald and Goofy would have mentioned it if it were them.”

“You have memory loss?” Ienzo inquired. “Is there a medical issue? I can provide an examination.”

Riku laughed. “No. These two idiots just discovered party drugs,” he said, as Kairi and Sora shouted protests.

“I see,” Ienzo commented neutrally, after a brief pause. “Well, I shall assume one or both of you sent it, especially as that explains the nature of the wounds. Thank you. Sora, I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that this will significantly speed up our research.”

“You mean, Roxas and… whoever those other two are can have their own bodies soon?”

“That is my hope,” Ienzo told him earnestly.

“Oh, that’s such exciting news, Sora!” Kairi said, clapping her hands together. She couldn’t wait to meet Roxas and the other two. She had a feeling one of them was a girl, though she wasn’t sure how. Hopefully they could become friends; Kairi didn't mind that all her friends were guys, but it'd be nice to have someone to talk to about girl things sometimes.

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_“Mercy!” The replica called. “Please, I don’t want to fight; just let me go!”_

_“You’re working for Xehanort,” Kairi pointed out, keyblade ready to strike. “Why should I let you go?”_

_“Because…” the Riku replica panted, clearly weak… and was that a bite wound on his neck? What? It was bleeding profusely. “Your bloodsucker there is hurt; might want to take care of him instead of fighting me...”_

_Kairi furrowed her eyebrows and glanced behind her to find Sora throwing up… blood?! Well, shit. She turned back to the replica, but he was on the ground too now, unconscious and bleeding. Well, double shit. Should she heal him? Maybe. But Sora came first._

_Kairi rushed over to the brunette, putting a hand on his back and muttering a cure spell. But, nothing happened… oh, right. There was a spell Aerith taught her that could be used for nausea, what was it… Esuna! Yes, that. She used that, and Sora stopped vomiting blood. He looked at her with a watery smile… oh, yup. He’d bitten the replica, no doubt about it, judging by the sheer amount of blood around his mouth. And were his eyes…? No, it must be a trick of the light, or maybe just her drug-addled mind mixing up colors._

_Kairi moved over to the replica to heal the wound, but it must have been too late; instead of the younger version of Riku, there was a blank puppet where he had fallen, with a tear in its neck, further proof that Sora had bitten it. But why? And how? Morally, that is. She knew he had fangs, yeah, but she’d never expected him to use them to violently, well… kill someone (even if a replica, it still counted as such in her mind; the guy still had a heart, after all... Although, if a time-travelling replica was killed the heart just went back to the past right? Okay, so it wasn’t that bad, then, or at least that’s what she told herself). And wasn’t Kairi just as much at fault? She had neglected healing him, prioritizing Sora, whose condition technically hadn’t been as bad (she didn’t regret her choice though. Did that make her a bad person?)_

_Kairi stood and turned back to Sora, who was standing now as well, looking at her with an unreadable expression. His eyes glowed unnaturally in the moonlight._

Kairi woke with a gasp. Had that been… a memory? Of the missing night? And if so, was it accurate, or embellished by dreams? Should she ask Sora about it? It was so… outlandish. Could it be that…? Kairi thought back on other things she had noticed, things clicking into place… But, if it were true, Sora would have told her, right? Then again, he had hid the fangs, only telling her about them when she found Riku and Sora looking into ways to undo that. Which seemed shaky in retrospect; could there have been more aspects to the issue they wanted to undo than just aesthetics? Perhaps she ought to investigate things a little further.

∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩

Sora let out a huge yawn as he sat at the library table. An ancient leather-bound book, too large and decaying to read casually on the couch without crushing his stomach or damaging the book, lay open in front of him, which he was thoroughly disinterested in. Yen Sid had mandated that he and Kairi do some reading while they were Tower-bound, but Sora had always had difficulty with textbooks, let alone ones over two-hundred years old that were filled with archaic language in tiny faded difficult-to-read fonts. Why did he need to know about the history of magic, anyway? He could use fire spells fine without knowing that they’d been invented by—Sora squinted at the name—did that say Merlin? Just how old was that wizard?

Not only was the book difficult to read and boring as hell, but Sora had barely slept the previous night, at first because he was still somehow high on Riku’s blood and then because his thoughts kept zipping around, trying to think of what possibly could have happened on their mission. There was also the guilt over hurting Riku so badly; no matter how much Riku said it was fine, to Sora it wasn’t.

Sora attempted reading a few more paragraphs before he closed his eyes and pushed the book away, resting his head in his crossed arms. Just one minute to give his eyes a break from the strain…

_Kairi held Sora by the hand as she led him through the dark narrow streets of the city, away from the brighter still-active areas. She and Sora were both struggling to remain upright, wobbling and nearly crashing into things thanks to fuzzy vision, yet because of their enhanced abilities still ran faster than the officers chasing them. Sora had a splitting headache and couldn’t comprehend anything that was being shouted at him by the officers or Kairi._

_Suddenly, they reached a fence. Kairi helped launch Sora into the air using her hands as a springboard, and he made it over the gate. She began to climb it, but was grabbed by the officers, kicking and screaming. Sora shouted her name, but in response she told him to keep going. Though conflicted, Sora did, as he had no way to get back over the tall fence._

_Unfortunately, not just ten strides away, Sora encountered something completely unexpected: a giant marshmallow with a face._

_“Uh. Hello,” Sora tried, though it barely came out as words. “Uh, can I get through?”_

_“Your vitals are strange,” the marshmallow commented in a mechanical voice. “I suggest you go to a hospital for further evaluation.”_

_“Baymax, he’s intoxicated, of course his vitals are abnormal.” A boy appeared from behind the marshmallow, about Sora’s age with dark hair, from what Sora could tell in the dim lighting and with his warped vision. He wore some sort of superhero-like armor. “Now, you can go to the station quietly, or we can take you by force,” the boy told Sora._

_“But I didn’ do ‘nythin’,” Sora slurred._

_“We’ll leave that for the courts to decide,” the boy said contritely._

_Sora summoned his keyblade._

_The boy sighed. “Okay, fight it is, then…”_

Sora woke to someone jostling his shoulder. He blinked his eyes open and lifted his head to see Kairi now seated in front of him, with her own book. He looked at her, half-asleep.

“Hello, sleepyhead,” Kairi chimed. She pushed a plate with a sandwich over to him.

“What’s this?” Sora asked.

“A sandwich, silly! It’s lunch time. I made you grilled cheese with tomatoes and bacon—your favorite! The kitchen had some really fancy cheeses today, so I used those.”

Sora smiled. “Thanks, Kairi.” He picked up the sandwich, then paused. In his half-asleep mind, and with the still-hot sandwich smelling so good, he’d nearly forgotten that human food disagreed with him.

“Something wrong?” Kairi asked with concern.

“Huh?” Sora put the sandwich down. “No, nothing’s wrong. Uh. Do you remember there being a giant marshmallow in San Fransokyo?”

“Giant Marshmallow?” Kairi asked, frowning. “No, why?”

“I just had a dream about one. I think I lost a fight to it.”

Kairi raised an eyebrow. “You lost a fight to a marshmallow?”

Sora shrugged. “I mean, I was really high, so I might have misinterpreted things, but yeah. It was with a boy dressed in superhero-like armor. I think they’re the ones who arrested me.” Sora closed his eyes, trying to remember more. “Actually, I think you joined in the fight too… wait, but I saw you get caught by police moments before, so I guess you escaped them? But then… yeah, we both got captured by the marshmallow and his sidekick.”

Kairi processed this for a moment. “Well, I guess stranger things have happened,” she determined, then spotted the sandwich. “Sora! You should eat before it gets cold.”

“Huh?” Sora turned to the sandwich. “Oh, right. Um. I really appreciate it, Kairi, but I’m not—”

“If you say you’re not hungry, Sora, I’m going to punch you,” Kairi said resolutely, and Sora believed her. “You didn’t eat breakfast! You’re going to get sick if you don’t eat enough.”

“I eat!” Sora defended.

“Not nearly as much as you used to! I’ve barely seen you eat anything the past few weeks.” Kairi then looked worried. “Sora, are you getting sick?”

Sora snorted. “Kairi, I’m fine. Here, I’ll eat it.” He picked up the sandwich and took a large bite. It actually tasted really good! He licked his lips once he swallowed. “This is amazing, Kairi!” Sora told her honestly with a smile, even though he knew he’d be in the bathroom later vomiting it up. Dairy-based things like cheese were the worst on the return journey. Still, in for one munny, in for a hundred munny… He finished it fully.

“Looks like you were hungry after all,” Kairi teased.

Sora laughed halfheartedly. “Guess so.”

Kairi gave Sora a big grin in response.”Good! I’ll make you one for lunch tomorrow, too!”

Sora put on his best fake smile. “Yeah, s-sounds, good, Kairi!” He tried not to wince. He could already feel his stomach protesting… “Er. I’ll be right back!” He called, hurrying to the bathroom, only vaguely noticing Kairi’s shrewd expression.

∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩

Riku definitely had been helping Sora sleep with his dream-eater powers, as his sleep was only dreamless or pleasant when Riku was next to him. Sora wasn’t sure if Riku consciously caused this or not. Either way, Riku wasn’t sleeping next to him at the moment (he had left with Mickey for Radiant Garden, both to search for info on the missing wielders and to look into the potion), so Sora not only was struggling to fall asleep but he was preparing for it to be uneasy, most likely ending in a nightmare.

Well, it wasn’t a nightmare… but it wasn’t a pleasant dream, either. It wasn’t a dream at all, in fact, although Sora didn’t realize that until he woke up.

No, it was another memory of something that happened in San Fransokyo… 

_Sora walked down the dark row of warehouses in a daze, only half-aware of what was going on. He was supposed to be looking for rogue heartless with Kairi, Donald, and Goofy, but instead Kairi and Sora had gotten separated, found a night club, and somehow ended up with a bunch of people doing… Sora couldn’t remember. Now he seemed to have wandered off from all of them, although he had no idea why or where he was. Clearly the outskirts of the city, as it was very dark here. He could smell saltwater; sure enough, soon he emerged into a harbor, lit by dim lights. The lighting might be an issue for a human, but Sora could see fine thanks to his night vision._

_A figure sat on the dock, looking out towards the water. A figure Sora recognized… “Riku!” he yelled, rushing over._

_The figure jumped up and summoned his blade, Soul Eater. Huh. That was Riku’s old blade… and this Riku looked a lot younger, too. Also…_

_“You’re not my Riku,” Sora said confidently._

_The Riku laughed. “Really, now? Come on, just because I’m from the past doesn’t mean I’m not ‘your’ Riku…” suddenly, he looked confused. “Wait, ‘your’ Riku?”_

_“Yeah, my boyfriend,” Sora said bluntly, brain slightly fuzzy still. Then he realized something he should have earlier. “Ooooh, you’re the replica!”_

_The Riku scoffed “Hmph. Yes, I’m using a replica body. But I very much am the Riku from your past! The superior Riku to the modern-day sap. And I’d never be your… your… ‘boyfriend’!” He practically spat the word, as though it were a slur._

_“Uh, no, pretty sure you’re literally the replica. You just moved replica bodies.”_

_“No, I definitely am the real one!”_

_“Then why aren’t you overjoyed that we’re together? Pretty sure it was Riku’s jealousy over Kairi stealing my attention that led to his fall to darkness, mixed with some gay panic.” Sora was pretty sure he wouldn’t be saying this so bluntly if his inhibitions weren’t totally shot. It also wasn’t fully true. Both had played factors though._

_The replica paused at that, looking slightly confused. “Huh? N-no! Not true! I was jealous about you stealing all of Namine’s attention!”_

_“Yeah, you’re definitely the replica if you’re talking about Namine,” Sora concluded, realizing he’d slowly been approaching the replica as they spoke._

_The replica froze at that. “Wh-what?”_

_“Yeah, Namine wasn’t on the islands. You were created with a manipulated version of the original Riku’s memories.” Sora knew he was being incredibly cruel. He shouldn’t be, he wasn’t usually._

_“Shut up!” the replica growled, raising his sword as if to strike, then did a double-take. “Why are your eyes like that? Wait… are those fangs?!”_

_“Ooooh, you didn’t know?” Sora taunted. “I’m a vampire now… and, come to think of it, I am a bit hungry…”_

_“S-stay back!” the replica said, taking a step back, then another, only to discover he couldn’t back up further due to there being no more dock behind him. He moved to strike with his blade, but Sora grabbed his wrist._

_“You know, the real Riku has a biting kink,” Sora informed the replica. “Practically begs me to drink from him… I wonder if you’re like that too…”_

_“N-no, I don’t… ugh, get off!” The replica tried pushing Sora away, only for Sora to grab that wrist too. He tried to kick, but he was too unstable on the edge of the dock to effectively do so._

_“Get off? Well, nice of you to offer, but no, I think I’ll just have a little snack… or maybe a big meal…” Sora taunted, grinning wider. His fangs ached. This was an enemy, he knew. He wanted to fight, to bite… he wondered if he should let go and let the replica struggle a bit, play with his food; this was almost too easy… vaguely Sora realized that this was not how he should go about things, but in his lowered inhibitions, the vampire instincts were taking over…_

_“P-please, stop,” the replica begged, a note of desperation in his voice._

_Sora flipped them so the replica was lying beneath him, wrists pinned to the doc and legs pinned under Sora’s. He gladly gave in to the vampire’s drive._

_“Someone, help!” the replica called._

_“There’s no one to help you now,” Sora said, grinning. He was having fun, so much fun! He drove his fangs into the replica’s neck._

_“Ngh… stop it…” the replica pleaded, wriggling a little to try to escape, then went lax as the venom started taking effect. Right, it was an aphrodisiac… should he take advantage of that? Sora inwardly cringed at the stray thought; no, he still had some morals intact._

_Sora drank deeply, then unlatched his fangs and made a face. It had started off feeling good, but then the taste had turned rancid. It was definitely not proper human blood. He spat out the bit still in his mouth, and felt incredibly sick to his stomach. “What the fuck,” Sora hissed, nearly collapsing in pain._

_The replica pushed Sora away and tried to struggle up, but seemed to be weak and fairly out of it. Blood loss? How much blood could a replica lose? Or, whatever it was. Not blood. Sora felt dizzy from it, and began vomiting._

_“Sora?! Riku?!” came a voice, rushing over to them. “What… What is going on?!”_

_Sora looked up to see Kairi. “Not Riku,” Sora said in a croaky voice, trying to warn her. “Replica.”_

_Kairi turned to the replica, who had managed to get to his feet, and drew her keyblade._

Sora abruptly woke up in a sweat and immediately called the actual Riku in a panic.

“Sora, what’s wrong?!” Riku answered, in response to Sora’s tear-stained face, and most likely the early hour as well.

“I… I had a dream…”

“Oh, shit,” Riku swore. “I’m sorry; usually I can tell, and—”

“So you have been affecting my dreams!” Sora proclaimed.

Riku cringed. “Er. Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Sora accused.

“Well… I, um. I dunno. I thought it was obvious at first, and then realized you didn’t know, and then it had been weeks, and I didn’t want you mad about not telling you…”

Sora rolled his eyes. Typical Riku. Sora would be a hypocrite if he got upset about it though. “Riku, you should know I wouldn’t be mad about that. You always get way too nervous,” Sora pointed out, though he was one to talk.

“Right. Sorry… wait. This isn’t about me, it’s about you. You said you had a nightmare?”

“Well, not really…” Sora shifted uncomfortably. “It’s… I’m pretty sure it was a memory. From that night Kairi and I don’t remember. I think... I think I did something bad, Riku.”

“Something bad?”

“Yeah…” Sora explained the dream to Riku.

Riku was quiet for a moment, thinking. “Does Kairi remember too?” he finally asked.

Sora shook his head. “If she does, she hasn’t said anything.”

“Okay. Well, you probably should tell her before she does remember.”

“But I don’t know what happened after,” Sora protested.

“Regardless, you have to tell her what you are and what you do remember. You don’t want her finding out via scattered memories of you attacking someone, especially when that someone looks exactly like me.”

Sora sighed. “Yeah, I know… oh! But it does mean that five days is not actually my limit; it was due to throwing up the replica blood. Or, whatever it was… actually, maybe it was actual blood. It might have just been the darkness in it making it rancid… yeah, thinking back, it was probably the darkness… oh, but wait, I ate darkness while in rage-form, and that didn’t bother me…”

“Sora, focus,” Riku said firmly.

“On what? I told you everything. And the blood thing is good. I just have to be more careful next time.”

“Well, yeah… oh! Speaking of blood, I seem to have recovered already. I think the healing thing does apply to blood loss.”

Sora grinned broadly. “That’s great! Now I can feed on you more often,” Sora joked.

Riku laughed. “I suppose so…. Oh, back to Kairi for a moment! If she was with you fighting the replica, she probably does know what you are. And that would mean you did defeat it and send it to Ienzo; didn’t he say it had distinctive wounds?”

“He meant fang marks,” Sora realized. “Then I guess I should tell her before she remembers…” he sighed. He really didn’t want to. Stupid vampire instincts, and drugs. The only ‘drug’ he’d be doing henceforth would be Riku’s ambrosia-laced blood. Probably. “At least that’s one mystery solved though,” he reasoned.

∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩

“Sora?” Kairi asked at breakfast the following morning. It was only her and him there as everyone else was on missions while they were grounded, although Lea, Donald, and Goofy should be back soon as the latter two were in charge of monitoring their training. Yen Sid was somewhere around, but he rarely ate with the apprentices. Kairi had been thinking all of the previous day and into the night about how to breach the topic of her dream that was possibly a memory, as well as her other suspicions, to Sora.

“What’s up?” Sora asked. He wasn’t eating again, Kairi noted, as she’d suspected would be the case.

“Well… have you ever used your fangs to fight?” Kairi asked, deciding to just be blunt about it.

Sora froze for a moment, a tell that Kairi had gotten it correct. Would he lie? “I don’t know,” he said, and Kairi could tell he was being truthful. He then clarified, “I don’t normally, but last night I had a dream that I fought the replica using them during our last mission…” he admitted quietly, seeming ashamed. “I think it might have been one of the missing memories. Why? Do you remember?”

Kairi frowned. “Maybe? I had a dream two nights ago about it. It was weird. You were throwing up a lot of blood… I didn’t see you actually attack, but before it passed out it said something about you biting. He had a bad neck wound and your mouth was very bloody, backing it up…”

Sora cringed at that. “I, er, think I had the same dream last night, kinda,” he admitted. “It cut off just after you arrived though.”

“I see…” Kairi quieted, thinking about what she did after. She tried to prevent the tears in her eyes, but Sora noticed anyway.

“Kairi, what’s wrong? Did I scare you?” Sora asked worriedly.

Kairi shook her head. “N-no. Well, except that you were vomiting blood. But… I could have saved the replica, Sora! In retrospect I… I knew his condition was worse, but I still treated you first! I’m a h-horrible p-person!” Her voice cracked and tears began spilling out.

“Whoa, Kairi, hey!” Sora said, jumping around to sit next to her. She must have zoned out slightly, as he seemed to appear there too fast. Sora began rubbing small circles in Kairi’s back. “It’s okay, Kairi. It’s not your fault; besides, think about it—you didn’t actually know his wound was worse, right? Vomiting blood is generally actually seen as worse, right? He was still conscious at first, remember?”

Kairi thought back on that, realizing Sora was right… her tears began to subside, then she frowned. “Wait. You’re right. His wound wasn’t actually big enough to bleed out that fast. And… he called you ‘bloodsucker’...” Kairi’s eyes widened and she looked at Sora in complete shock, more so than she should be given what she’d started to suspect earlier. “Sora, did you DRINK his blood?!”

Sora cringed and scooted back a bit. “I, uh, don’t remember,” he mumbled, looking uncomfortable. Okay, definite lie.

Kairi realized something else that further proved such, and narrowed her eyes at the brunette. He was going to explain himself. “Sora, don’t lie. You were vomiting too much blood for it to be just your own.” Yes, he’d definitely been drinking blood… which was the only thing in the vomit, come to think of it, not any food… and he never ate around people anymore… the pieces began falling together more firmly, moving away from vague suspicions to certainty.

Sora’s eyes widened. “Um. I, uh, gotta go, I, uh, forgot that I have… well, see ya later!” Sora darted out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

“Oh no you don’t!” Kairi yelled, rushing to follow. “We are talking about this NOW!” 

∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, Sora thought as he ran up the infinite-seeming stairs of the Mysterious Tower. Kairi was catching on… running was probably the worst way to deal with this, but he had panicked. He’d just made it worse. He could hear her steps behind him… ugh, why couldn’t the super-speed kick in now? It just had to be intermittent! Even if Kairi did not come to the conclusion that Sora was a vampire—although he was positive she already had—his best friend had watched him drink someone’s blood until they died! Someone who looked like her other best friend. She’d found out in the worst way possible. People had warned Sora that this would happen, that he needed to tell her, but so much time had passed that he knew she’d get mad he waited that long so he had just kept shoving it off… ugh. He was such an idiot! Stupid, stupid, stupid. Running from his fears instead of facing them, even now. Pathetic.

Sora dodged into an empty room. As the adrenaline of the running wore off, Sora could feel the tears about to spill over. He locked the door with his keyblade, then put his back to the wall and slid down, putting his face in his knees as he listened to Kairi run past, looking for him. He let the tears fall, trying to keep them muffled, until his tears dried out and he sat in silence, hiding from his problems...

Sora wasn’t sure how much time had passed. Enough that he could hear Donald and Goofy, who were in charge of their studies, looking for him too; they hadn’t been due to return until around mid-morning, so it must have been at least a couple of hours. Had Kairi told them what she’d discovered? He hadn’t told them about his vampirism, either. Would they be upset? They probably would be upset.

Someone knocked on the door, and Sora flinched in surprise. He hadn’t heard anyone!

“Sora, please come out now,” Yen Sid said sternly. 

Sora froze. The wizard was looking for him now, too? He must have silenced his footsteps somehow, realizing Sora would be able to hear otherwise due to his vampire senses. Sora shrunk in on himself more, not saying a word, hoping that the wizard would think he wasn’t in here and leave (even though he knew in the back of his mind that that was a false hope).

Yen Sid jiggled the doorknob. “I know you’re in there, Sora.” When Sora didn’t respond again, he continued, “This door is locked with a keyblade. It’s the only place you could be; I do not know why you are childishly hiding, but you have lessons to attend to.”

Sora still didn’t speak. He didn’t want to be found just to be yelled at. He knew he’d messed up. If it were just Kairi, he could do it, but now four people were looking for him. Four people who would see the tears, who would see him not be happy when he was supposed to be happy. It wasn’t just about them knowing of his vampiric condition anymore.

“Sora, are you okay?” Yen Sid’s voice, though still firm, had a note of concern in it now.

“What’s going on?” Came an anatidaen warble from the door as Donald, Goofy, Kairi, and Lea arrived there.

“Sora, please,” Yen Sid said after another pause. “At least assure us that you are uninjured.” He sounded… worried? About him? Sora was confused. Why would the wizard be worried about him? He’d never cared before, not about Sora himself. Only about what he could do. And what he’d been doing lately was nothing but disappointing him. Disappointing everyone. 

Kairi probably wouldn’t want to be his friend after discovering his secret. Maybe Donald and Goofy would abandon him too. So far everyone had been accepting, but… well. He was a vampire. Not everyone would be okay with that, or at least not going on missions with him. After all, he was a vicious monster. A monster who had become too complacent in his condition, so much so that he’d literally killed someone by draining them of blood (some might argue that it wasn’t so bad because he was a replica, and that obtaining a replica body had been a good thing, but even so, it was beyond brutal, and must have been painful)—no one should have to go through that, bad guy or not.

A click; someone had used their own keyblade to unlock the door.

“Sora, we’re coming in now,” Yen Sid warned him.

Sora remained unresponsive, burying his head in his knees further, eyes shut tightly and arms wrapped around him. “Go away,” he croaked as he heard five sets of footsteps hurrying in to stop in front of him. He couldn’t bring himself to respond anymore than that; there was a slight ringing in his ears, and his heart raced so fast that it felt like it’d burst from his chest.

Sora vaguely noticed people talking to him, but he couldn’t make out words. It sounded like they were underwater. He recalled experiencing this sensation before, when he was a young child, but never with so much anxiety and panic lining it (or, maybe there had been; it had been a long time ago). Sora tried to shrink in on himself more, but found he was already curled as tightly as possible.

“Sora, talk to us, please,” someone begged, though Sora couldn’t tell who. Someone tried gently prying his arms open, but Sora held firm.

“What’s wrong with him?” Someone else asked in a loud squawking warble. Oh, that must be the duck… Donald, that was it. Always so critical. 

Sora was bothering him. He was bothering everyone. Sora shouldn’t present having anything wrong with him, yet here he was, a vampire of his own making curled up into a ball and shutting himself off from the world, in full view of everyone. Should he say something? Tell them he was fine, not to worry, like usual? But Sora couldn’t bring himself to move or say anything, trapped within his own mind, although at least he could hear people now.

“That is NOT the way to speak to someone having a panic attack!” Lea scolded the duck.

“Panic attack?” Kairi asked innocently.

Lea sighed. “Yeah. Roxas used to get them sometimes. He’d shut down when experiencing high-stress, which for him mostly related to trying to process the emotions he couldn’t figure out because everyone told him he had none. Sora knows he has emotions though, so it isn’t for that reason.”

Sora processed this. Roxas would get like this too? He wasn’t… broken? But wait, Roxas had been formed through him, so maybe Sora had simply transferred that defect over.

“Then what happened to trigger this?” Goofy asked.

Sora made a small strangled sound like a wounded animal. No, no, no. Kairi would explain, and then they’d all know. This was bad, bad, bad! 

Someone (Kairi?) put a hand on Sora’s shoulder, but he flinched away, at least the best he could while curled into a ball. Kairi got the idea though and backed off.

Someone else (Goofy?) tried prying his arms open more forcefully, and Sora made a noise of protest. 

“Stop, you’ll hurt him!” Kairi yelled.

“Gawrsh, I’m just trying to help!”

“Well, that isn’t the way!”

Great, now his friends were fighting because of him. Could he not do anything right? He needed to snap out of this, put on a happy face… why couldn’t he bring himself to move, or even speak? He wanted to. But his body wouldn’t cooperate. He was so pathetic, couldn’t even control himself enough to speak. Just like how he couldn’t control himself when biting the replica.

Sora felt a familiar sensation building up inside him, which only made him panic more. No no no no! It was bad enough Riku had witnessed this. He had to keep it down! Donald and Goofy had seen it, but only in battle, and not the vampire type. And there were no heartless around! Would he attack his friends instead? No no no no no, he had to stop this from happening… his heart felt like it’d beat right out of his chest, and his breathing, which had already been labored, only got faster and more difficult. His whole body trembled.

“Okay. Wow, um, anyone else see that?” Lea asked nervously, and Sora realized why. He wasn’t holding it in well; he felt wisps of darkness wrapping around his skin. He’d failed. The form was going to unleash upon his friends.

“Wak!” Donald squawked. “This isn’t a battle! Why’s he doing this here?”

Sora bit his lip, using the pain of the fangs driving into it as a distraction from his thoughts, and closed his eyes, desperately trying to hold in the darkness. He struggled to take in air, more panic welling up. He hoped his friends had the sense to stay away! 

Sora’s GummiPhone began to ring, the special tone he had for Riku. Sora shook slightly; did Riku know what was happening? Could he sense it through their link? Sora let the ringing run its course. A beat. The ringing started up again. Sora ignored it. Someone else’s phone began ringing, and whoever’s it was dashed out of the room to answer.

Sora let out a sob and tears began to fall again as the darkness leaked out more. No, no, no, no! He had to stop it. He had to stop it. Sora moved his arms so they were more on the top of his still-lowered head, grabbing his hair tightly and curling his knees closer. His knees surely were leaving marks on his cheeks. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold in the darkness… and would it be the same as usual? It’d never appeared in a panic like this, only during anger or frustration. Sure, there was a little of that here, but it was more panic, fear, stress, anxiety, and numerous other overwhelming emotions Sora couldn’t put a name to. The others were speaking to him again, but Sora couldn’t process what they were saying.

As Sora’s tears quieted again—he wasn’t sure how he’d managed to keep the darkness in, which was still wisping over his skin—Kairi returned and whispered to the others in an urgent tone. Although she meant it to be too quiet for him to hear, Sora heard her say, “Riku says we need to leave the room, now.”

As the others left the room, Sora wilted slightly. He didn’t want them there, but the tone Kairi had used made it sound like he was dangerous… well, he was, definitely, but still. Riku had told them that. He told them to flee from Sora. How much else had he told them? Was Riku afraid of him, too? Part of him denied this, as Riku loved when Sora drank his blood, but last time Sora nearly drained him he was so hungry, and the one he’d killed via draining had been Riku’s replica. Did Riku think Sora would now do that to him? Oh gods, Riku thought Sora would do that to him. Sora would never though! Wouldn’t he? No, it was just anxiety talking, that was all… but Sora almost had. He would have if Riku hadn’t struggled.

“So, why did he want us to leave so urgently?” Sora heard a voice outside the door. Lea? Lea. They were talking about him. Of course they were. Probably thought he couldn’t hear them with the door closed, probably locked to keep him in.

“All he said was that we had to leave the room. He didn’t specifically say why, but I’m pretty sure he knows something about this,” Kairi said. This calmed Sora slightly; Riku hadn’t explicitly told them anything.

“Oh, he gets like that sometimes,” Goofy said. “At least, the darkness bit. When he goes into it fully, it’s kinda like a drive form, but dark. Never seen it outside of battle though…”

“And you did not think to tell anyone of this?” Yen Sid said tersely. Well, the cat was out of the bag, and Yen Sid was mad at him again (Sora knew that’d happen as soon as he’d started leaking darkness, of course, though a sliver of hope had slipped in saying it wouldn’t. Stupid hope).

“Well, gawrsh, it didn’t seem so bad. It only happens in battle if he’s really hurt or one of us is hurt, and only attacks heartless and stuff, so it can be pretty useful.”

“But there are no heartless here, and we’re not in a battle,” Lea pointed out. “Unless any of you have something you’re hiding,” he tried joking. Sora nearly let out a bitter laugh at those words. Hiding something? Yeah, someone had something to hide, but it wasn’t any of them, it was Sora himself.

They continued speaking about Sora, but Sora ignored them. He folded in on himself closer, again trying to reign in his emotions. Slowly the darkness began dissipating, achingly slowly. Sora had been able to suppress it… good. That was good. But in its place he felt… empty. He felt sore all over, and was shaking slightly. He removed his hands from his hair, the movement sluggish, to wrap them around his knees again, tilting his head to look at a point on the floor in front of him. He focused on breathing, on thinking about nothing. The anxiety replaced itself with a numbness, a lack of feeling. His racing thoughts began to quiet, his heartbeat slowing, but he still couldn’t bring himself to move any more than he had. He couldn’t think very well at all, as though he were in a fog. It was a bit scary, but this lethargic disconnect from the world was better than attacking his friends while in rage-form, which shouldn’t have started to happen.

∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩

“You know, we can go back if you want,” Mickey said as he watched Riku pace back and forth in Merlin’s house’s multi-purpose ground floor.

Riku shook his head. As much as he wanted to… “It’s a six hour drive, Mickey. The form doesn’t last that long, if he even goes into it.”

“True, but didn’t Kairi say it was due to a panic attack? He might need you to comfort him.”

“I can call once he’s calmer,” Riku pointed out. It made logical sense, even if his heart was shouting at him to go. They still had things to do here, and Sora had many people there to help him. Donald and Goofy had even seen and dealt with the ‘rage-form’ before… although it was different now that Sora was a vampire. Besides, there was no guarantee he even would go into it… although, it’d never been triggered by a panic attack before, nor outside of battle. Maybe Riku should go back. He’d seen Sora panic before, mostly in response to traumatic nightmares, but never in the middle of the day, nor so severe. Kairi had told him a little about what happened… Sora was probably panicking about the others discovering the vampirism. Which, technically, they hadn’t yet, but Kairi seemed to be on the edge of realizing. Maybe Riku should be there after all.

Riku jumped as his phone rang. He fumbled for it in his pocket, and immediately answered without checking the caller ID. Kairi’s face appeared; she seemed upset. “What’s wrong?” Riku asked. “Is Sora okay?”

“I don’t know,” Kairi said quietly. “The darkness went away, but now he’s completely unresponsive… What did Lea call it? Catatonia?”

Riku blinked in surprise. “He’s catatonic?” Riku had seen that happen before, but not since they were young children… and if he recalled correctly, when that had happened he’d only responded to those closest to him, like his mother or Riku. “Have any of you tried to rouse him?”

Kairi nodded. “He won’t respond to anything.” Riku frowned. Not even Kairi? She was closer to Sora than anyone there. Although, if she had been part of the reason Sora was in that state… 

“Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Riku decided. “Keep checking up on him in the meantime, and call me if anything changes.”

∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩

Sora sat unmoving, staring at the ground in front of him, for hours, though to him it seemed more like minutes. But it couldn’t be minutes, because people had been coming in and out. First they’d all tried shaking him, then resigned to just looking in the door on occasion. Kairi had also come in alone twice, or maybe thrice; every time she had stood in front of him, called his name a few times, bent down to reach for him, then thought twice about it and retreated. So she was scared, then. Maybe she’d even figured everything out about him.

Someone new entered the room... someone whose scent Sora recognized but shouldn’t be at the Tower right now.

“Sora?” Riku asked gently, crouching in front of him. The silverette put a gentle hand on Sora’s shoulder.

Sora looked up for the first time in who-knows-how-long. His neck felt stiff and his movements were sluggish. He looked blankly into Riku’s eyes. He wasn’t sure what to say. He wasn’t sure if he even could speak. He tried, but only a weird strangled noise came out—how embarrassing.

Riku smiled gently, unjudging. “Hey there.”

“Ri… ku.” Sora managed quietly, his voice hoarse.

Riku moved his hand to stroke Sora’s hair, the other on his knee as he knelt down. “Is it okay if I sit next to you?” he asked calmly.

Sora nodded slightly, and Riku turned to seat himself at Sora’s side, right up against him. Sora leaned over, settling against Riku, who wrapped an arm around him and squeezed gently. Sora closed his eyes. “‘M tired,” he mumbled.

Riku smiled at Sora fondly. “I can imagine.”

∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩

Kairi leaned against the wall opposite the door. The others had all gone off to do other things, but she couldn’t bring herself to while she was so worried about Sora, especially since she had caused this. She’d noticed he had been getting uncomfortable, but she’d still pushed on. She’d pushed too far. Vaguely Kairi recalled a few incidents similar to this when they were children, but she couldn’t remember what had caused them then, or how Sora had come out of them. Riku evidently did though. She’d have to ask him about that later in case this happened in the future. That is, assuming Sora would still want her around… no, that was a silly thought. Sora forgave Riku for trying to kill him; he’d forgive Kairi for asking too many questions. Then again, Riku had a much deeper connection to Sora than she did, especially now—loathe as she was to believe it, nearly two years apart had changed things between them. They were still best friends, but it just didn’t have quite the same feeling as it did before. Or… maybe it did, but the difference was that Kairi had a better understanding and interpretation of the feelings. Either way, Riku was probably given a lot more leeway in Sora’s mind than other people, Kairi decided. 

The door opened, and Kairi stood up straight. Riku emerged holding a fast-asleep Sora in his arms.

“Did you use a sleep spell?” Kairi asked, noting how peaceful Sora looked as she followed Riku up the stairs, presumably towards their room.

“No, he fell asleep on his own,” Riku said in a whisper.

Soon the two reached Sora and Riku’s room. Kairi opened the door for Riku, and once inside she plopped down on a couch that the Tower had manifested to replace the second bed that neither boy used while Riku laid Sora on the bed. She again wondered how Donald and Goofy had been so blindsided by Sora and Riku being a couple. Maybe their cultures were different, and anthropomorphic animals viewed sleeping together more platonically? Regular animals often did after all; Kairi wasn’t sure how much transferred over.

Riku sighed and sat down on the couch too, sprawling out with his arms along the back of it—the couch could fit four or five people—as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “That certainly was… an adventure,” he concluded.

“Does that happen often?” Kairi inquired.

Riku peeked one eye opened and looked at her pensevely. “Generally, no. Haven’t seen it that bad since he was maybe six or seven… what exactly did you say to him?”

Kairi bristled slightly. “Why would you assume it’s my fault?” she hissed, even though she knew it had been.

Riku withdrew his arms and sat up straighter, turning slightly to look her in the eyes. “Kairi. When he’s like that, only those close to him can bring him out of it, unless they were part of the stressor. Since he didn’t react to you, the logical conclusion is that it was triggered by you.” Riku’s words stung a little, but they were calm. He wasn’t trying to accuse, just explain.

Kairi looked into her lap, where she’d rested her hands. “Maybe we’re not that close anymore,” she said quietly, half to herself.

Riku scooched closer and put a hand over hers. “Kairi, you know that’s not true. You’re his—our—best friend. He sacrificed his life for you, even! He loves you.”

Kairi bit her lip in thought for a moment, then concluded that that was true. She could feel it in her heart. Kairi smiled playfully. “He loves you more, though.”

Riku blushed slightly, but shook his head. “No. His love for me just has… an additional facet to it.”

Kairi giggled, then shifted nervously. She took a deep breath; might as well ask. She decided to be blunt about it. “Sex isn’t the only ‘additional facet’ though, is it?” 

Riku’s body language immediately shifted to the defensive. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“You know what I mean.”

Riku looked towards Sora and sighed. “That’s not my place to discuss,” he told her.

Kairi sighed too. “Yeah, I figured. I think I got it pretty much figured out though… You’re right, it was my fault he panicked. I remembered some things from the city…” Kairi explained everything that had happened. “I pushed him too far, Riku…”

“Yeah, you did,” Riku said a bit callously, then cringed as he caught himself. “Sorry.”

Kairi shook her head. “No, it’s true, no need to sugarcoat it…” Then she felt a spike of anger. “But can you blame me? He’s been hiding this! We’re supposed to be best friends! Yet apparently he doesn’t trust me! And it’s not the first time; he tried hiding you two were together at first, too! I was so worried, thinking something was seriously wrong, but I was probably just making this all worse, forcing him to eat and whatnot!” She took a few deep breaths to calm herself; it was a wonder Sora was still asleep. “I just wish he’d trust me enough to tell me these things…”

Riku cringed. “Then I suppose this isn’t a good time to tell you I drank something Hades gave me that made me immortal…?” he asked sheepishly.

Kairi stared at the silverette for a moment, processing, before Riku’s words clicked. “WHAT?”

∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩

Sora blinked open his eyes; his mind was a little fuzzy, causing him to be unsure where he was or how he had gotten there. He did notice a distinct scent, though… “Riku?” he muttered as he started to sit up, noting he was in his own bed.

“Sora!” Riku said, and after a few footsteps was at his side, sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling Sora into his arms.

“It’s okay, Riku,” Sora said, patting his boyfriend on the back, although he wasn’t really sure what he was reassuring Riku about. “M’hungry,” he muttered, aware that Riku had Sora’s face pressed into his collarbone.

Riku tensed slightly. “Er. Now’s not really the right ti...mmmm…” Riku trailed off as Sora bit sharply into his collarbone.

A small shout that was not from Riku caused Sora to immediately unlatch his fangs and sit up straighter, looking behind Riku to where Kairi sat on the couch, staring at Sora with wide eyes and hands over her mouth.

The events from earlier came flying back to Sora. “Oh, fuck!” he declared. “Kairi! I’m… oh, gods, how do I explain this… Riku, help!” Sora turned and buried his face in Riku’s chest.

Riku just let out a frustrated sigh. “Sora, come on. She already knows.”

“You told her?!” Sora said accusingly, muffled through Riku’s shirt.

“No, Sora—”

“Lea did, then?”

“No! She figured it out on her own, like both Mickey and I told you would happen if you hid this,” Riku said, voice slightly tense but with more patience than Sora would have expected. He put his hands on Sora’s shoulders and gently pried him off of his chest.

Sora sheepishly turned to Kairi, noting her alarmed expression. Sora felt a jolt in his heart. He had scared her! “I’m sorry, Kairi, I—”

“Shut up,” Kairi said tersely, and Sora realized that it was anger, not fear, that decorated her face. “Did I hear that right? You told LEA before me? LEA?!”

“What? No, Kairi, that’s not what happened!” Sora defended. “He found out on his own, caught me, er… well.”

“Who else knows?” Kairi asked through clenched teeth.

“What?” Sora asked, slightly thrown off.

“Who. Else. Knows?”

“The only people I INTENTIONALLY told were Yen Sid, Mickey, Ienzo, and Merlin!” Sora said, trying and progressively failing not to raise his voice. “Only because we needed them to help figure out how to reverse this! But more and more people kept finding out…”

“How many more?”

“I don’t know! But Kairi, I really really really didn’t mean to let it go this long without telling you, really, I swear! I thought we’d be able to reverse it before anyone found out, then I would tell you after and we’d all laugh like it was a joke. But then we didn’t. And time kept passing. And it became too late to tell you without you getting mad, so I kept pushing it off…”

“Yeah, I kinda figured that,” Kairi said wryly, and Sora winced. “I’d thought you’d’ve learned that lesson by now, but I guess you never will.”

“Kairi, that’s a bit harsh,” Riku said in defense of Sora.

Sora sighed. “No, she’s right,” he said, wilting. “I do that all the time. I should know not to by now. You have every right to be mad at me, Kairi. I should have told you I was a vampire as soon as we realized how serious it actually was.”

“Damn right you should have,” Kairi said. “You should have told me right away. I thought best friends didn’t keep secrets? Or am I not your best friend anymore?”

Sora blinked. “What? Of course you’re my best friend, Kairi!” He wriggled past Riku and onto the couch next to Kairi, apparently a bit too fast from her and Riku’s shocked expressions. He tried putting a hand on Kairi’s shoulder but she shook him off, still looking quite pissed. “Come on, you know I didn’t mean to—”

“Oh don’t give me that BS!” Kairi yelled shrilly, jumping to her feet. “You very well did mean to hide it from me! You had ample opportunity to say something! You should have told me at the very latest back in Olympus, after Hades mentioned something!”

“But—” Sora tried protesting again, though rather intimidated at Kairi’s outburst. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her that angry before.

“No! You should have, Sora! Instead, I had to find out by catching you drain someone’s blood until they died! You’re lucky I had been too high to properly process it at first, or else I might have stabbed you thinking you were an enemy! Your eyes were gold, you know. Gold!” She glared at Sora as she caught her breath.

Sora felt the blood drain from his face. “No, I didn’t know that,” he whispered nervously. Gold was the color of darkness… Sora turned to Riku. “Did you know that?”

Riku shook his head. “Your eyes are always blue when you feed on me…” then he frowned. “Actually, wait. They were gold when you were in that ‘rage-form’ thing, too. But that’s the standard color of darkness, so it’d be more odd if they didn’t change while encased in it.”

Sora scrunched his eyebrows. “Huh? They used to turn red when I used that, not gold.”

“Wait wait wait,” Kairi interrupted, voice still loud. “‘Rage-form’? What the hell is that!? Is that something else you’re hiding!?”

∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩≡U≡∩

Riku collapsed on the bed once Kairi left, feeling exhausted. “Well, that could have gone better,” he said dryly. Eventually Kairi had somewhat calmed down, or at least had been able to outwardly compose herself—she was still fairly angry if the slam of the door was anything to go by. Riku cringed at the thought that Sora still hadn’t told Donald and Goofy; hopefully that would go better than this. Broaching that subject wouldn’t be a good idea at the moment though.

Sora fell sideways onto the couch. “She’ll get over it. Kairi never holds a grudge for long.”

Riku let out a soft snort. “That’s an understatement.” If she could easily forgive Riku for all the shitty stuff he’d done to her, she would forgive Sora for this. Riku was glad Sora realized this too. “I bet we’ll wake up to a plate full of cookies in the morning.” That was something Kairi tended to do as an apology after arguing, even if the other party had been more in the wrong like this situation.

Sora groaned. “Ugh. She better not. That’ll be torture!”

Riku laughed. “She does bake really good cookies,” he acknowledged. He couldn’t imagine having to resist eating them.

“Of course, I could always eat them anyway…” Sora mused. “Might be worth it…”

“Don’t you dare,” Riku warned, though he was laughing slightly. “I prefer feeding sessions to be sensual, not desperate because you—”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Sora laughed. “No cookies… hey, at least Kairi will understand why now.”

“Hmm. If she does bake cookies, I’ll let you feed extra tomorrow, how about that?” Riku suggested. He sat up halfways, leaning on his elbow, giving Sora what he hoped was a properly coquettish expression.

Sora sat up, looking at Riku with eyebrows raised. “Wait, seriously? But aren’t you still recovering from the other day?”

Riku grinned. “Nope. Merlin took a look, and apparently thanks to that ambrosia I heal four times as fast as a human does. That includes restoring blood.”

Sora grinned, revealing his fangs. “Oh I am so going to take advantage of that,” he practically purred.

“Be my guest,” Riku said, canting his head to the side to fully reveal his neck as his cock twitched at the fact that Sora was literally drooling at the sight. As suspected, Sora was hungry—Kairi had told him about the sandwich incident from the previous day.

Sora wiped his mouth with his sleeve while staring at Riku’s neck, mouth slightly open. He met Riku’s eyes, and in a blink had Riku pinned at the wrists while hovering over him. Riku habitually tilted his head to the side in offering, and Sora wasted no time driving his fangs deep into the soft flesh presented to him.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, Kairi FINALLY knows. Now the only major players left to find out are Donald and Goofy... Well, Sora, what's your play gonna be there—tell them, or risk another repeat of this mess?
> 
> I also just realized that I completely forgot Jiminy Cricket exists (again). Just pretend he's on an extended vacation or something.
> 
> Next installment most likely won't be out for a few weeks again; I got a few fics close to being done that I want to get posted first, including a really long multi-chapter one.


End file.
